Mystery...Suspense...Sci Fi...Romance... The joy of writing fiction - meeting new people in places that don't yet exist.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Big Brother is Alive and Well and Living in Your e-Reader.

I read George Orwell's 1984 back in the 1960s when I was in high school. The whole concept of Big Brother was disturbing but not too difficult to dismiss as impossible. After all, this was before personal computers, cell phones, the Internet, and e-readers.

Now we have a TV show, Person of Interest, with a similar premise - that someone is always watching - and it doesn't seem quite so unbelievable anymore.

When I first started shopping on line, I had a terrible time giving out my credit card information. How could it possibly be secure out there? Now, of course, we put almost everything out there. Financial data? Sure. Medical information? No problem. Social gatherings? Absolutely. Let have them on line.

But there was still the illusion that we were in control. If I entered my banking information on line, that was my choice. If I wanted to shop on line - knowing my purchases would be tracked and used for marketing purposes - well, that was up to me. If I purchased books for my e-reader, I knew those purchases were recorded in a file somewhere so someone could look up my reading preferences, see what I liked to read.

But how about the way I read? Could someone watch over my shoulder and see how fast I read a story? Where I stopped? What pages I re-read? If I skipped to the end of a mystery to see whodunit? I mean, once I purchased a book for my e-reader, what I did with it was no one's business but my own, right?

What if I were doing research on voodoo dolls and underlined key passages in an ebook? Then one of my friends (strictly hypothetical) dies from a mysterious malady and police find a voodoo doll at the scene with emails between us discussing black magic.

How long before this information can be entered into a court of law?

Sounds insane, but I put nothing past the legal system now. The digital world has ramifications we aren't even aware of yet.

Maria - I've know about it for awhile but it's been nagging at me to the point I needed to say something. I read somewhere that it can already be obtained by law enforcement with a warrant. Not sure what it can be used for after they get it.

Hey LD...I read '1984' in the '70's and at the time it did seem far fetched, but disturbing to think that it may happen, and now, it's happening. Big Brother is watching, but that being said, I guess it doesn't really bother me so far...like you said, shopping online is my choice,(and I gotta admit, I do a lot of that!)..I don't have facebook mainly because I find it a waste of time. I can't believe the things people post on there...and almost none of it is in any way useful to anyone...as for e-readers, I've never had one and don't think I'll get one. They just don't appeal to me.(Not yet anyway!)..I'd rather hold a real book. I will read the article you mentioned...intriguing post!

You always crack me up. I love Person of Interest but it has made me more wary. Three weeks ago, my son's bank account was hacked and all his money taken by a coordinated attack happening simultaneously from two different states. It was clever and effective. Bank is making good on it, but it is scary.

Ok. I know I may be jaded but you have to understand I am a retired pediatrician who has been subpoenaed more than once. My general rule is to never write anything on the Internet that I would not say in a court of law. I just imagine an attorney saying: "Now doctor, can you explain this ....". Must admit it makes you hit the delete button on occasion It saved my derrière more than once --that and compulsive record keeping !

About Me

Hi. I love to read and write mystery, suspense, murder and mayhem... you know, the dark stuff. But for this blog, I just want to have fun, with a little personal stuff mixed in. So stop by when you need a lift and I'll do my best. And please say hi. That will give me a lift, too.